Delayed-action fuse for projectiles.



No. 745,981. PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903: G. V. WHEELER & A. G. MOKBNNA.DELAYED ACTIOIM FUSE FOR PROJECTILES.

APPL GATION F IIIII 13.21. 1903.

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. WITNESSES No. 745.981. J PATBNTEDjDEG. 1-, 190's. 0. V.WHEELER & A. G.MQKBNNA. DELAYED ACTION FUSE FOR PROJEGTILES.

APPLICATION FILED 1133.24, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2" no MODEL.

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cumulus v. WHEELER, or ALLEGHENY, AND ALEXANDER e. MCKENNA, orBRA'DDQCK, PENNSYLVANIA,

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,981, dated.December 1., 1903. Application filed February 24,1903. Serial No.144.606. up model.)

To (IE-Z whom, it inn/y concern.-

Beitlrnown that We,CHARLESV./VHEELER, of Allegheny, and ALEXANDER G.MCKENNA, of Braddock, Allegheny county, Pennsylva- 5 nia, have inventeda new and useful Delayed- Action Fuse for Projectiles, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,- inwhich Figure l is a longitudinal section of our improved fuse, Figs. 2and 3 are cross sec- (ions on the lines 11 H and U1 ill of Fig. 1. Fig.l is a longitudinal section of a modificathe lines V V, VI VI, and VIIVII of Fig. 4. Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views of other modifications.

Our invention is a delayed-action fuse for projectiles; and it consistsin a fuse for projectiles containing thermite, which is composed ofanctallicoxid and powdered alu miuiuinor other element, such as powderedsilicon, capable of reacting with the oxid and producing a hightemperature without the production ofexplosive gases, together withmetallic magnesium and percarbonate of potassium or other suitablecomposition adapt- ,ed to start combustion of the therniite; and it alsoconsists in certain mechanical devices whereby communication of heatfrom the combustion. of the thermite to the bursting charge of theprojectile is delayed in its action; and it has for its object-delayedaction 5 of the fuse and also the production of intense heat within thebody of the shell, whereby it is capable of being employed as anincendiary vprojectile.

We will now describe our invention, so that others skilled in the artmay employ the same. In the production of fuses for projectiles thechief requirements are, first, safety in handling; second, certainty inaction; third, simplicity in construction; fourth, safety'fromdeterioration; fifth, sensitiveness, and, sixth, delayed action when theshell is to be used for perforating plates. Ill order to secure a n fusehaving all these requirements-we have produced a fuse which normally isunarmedthat is, it is provided with safety devices which preventmechanical movement of the tion. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are cross-sections onparts under any ordinary shock that might be produced in handlingthe'shell, and at the same time these safety devices are of suchcharacter that. the fusewill invariably arm itself when the projectileis discharged. from'i the gun and be sensitive enough to explode' whenthe shell is checked by the resistance of the skin-plate of a ship orother target.

In the drawings we have shown a variety 'ofmechanical devices which maybe employed to arm the fuse; but as other devices may be employed we donot desire in our broad claims to limit ourselves to the use of theconstrue. tion which we have shown.-

In the drawings, 2 represents the body of the fuse, which isprefcrably'a tube of brass or other suitable metal having on its outerface a thread 3, which enables the fuse to be screwed into a threadedcavity in the base of the projectile, suitable wrench-sockets 4 beingformedin the base of the fuse.

in the bore or cavity of the fuse, at a point slightlyremoved from thebase of the same, is a metal sleeve 5,having awrench-cavity 6 and athread 7, which thread engages with a thread formed on the interior boreof the fuse. The base of this sleeve 5 is recessed to receive an oblongnut 8, which fits within the recess 9 inthe sleeve 5.and is capable oflongitudinal f movement; but owing to its oblong shape and the oblongshape of the recess it is not capable of turning therein. 'lheinteriorofthis oblong nut 8 is provided with a screwthread adapted to engage withthe threaded end of thefiring pin or bolt 10. This firingpin 10 extendsthrough a bolt-hole in the upper portion of the sleeve 5, and on theouter face of the sleeve 5 is a washer or ring 11 of lubricatingmaterial. Surrounding the firing-pin 10, within the cavity of thefuse-and,

forward of the sleeve 5, is a pellet 12 of cy-, lindrical form adaptedto fit the cavity or bore of the fuse and capable of rotation therein,and at the forward end of the firing-pin 10 the bolt-hole through whichthe firing-pin 10 passes in the pellet 12 is square in cross-section, asshown in Fig. 3 of the drawings,'and the head of the firing-pin 10 isalso square, so that the firing-pin shall not be capable of rotationwithin the pellet 12. This pellet 12 is provided with two wrcnch holesor cavities ICO of the fuse and into the pellet 12 are frangible pins15, the purpose of which is to pre-' vent the pellet from rotatingnormally/within the cavity of the fuse. Seatedin/the head of thefiring-pin 19 is a steel hammer ldwh-ich is adapted to strike againstand explode the primer 17 when the fuse is armed. This primer 17 islocated ashort distance in front of the hammer 16'and is seated in adisk 18, which is screwed into the fuse-cavity a short distance belowthe mouth of the same, wrenchcavities 19 being formed in the disktoenable the disk to be screwed into its position in the cavity of thefuse. An opening or passage 20 leads from the space 21 in front of theprimer through the disk 18 into the bore of the fuse in front of thedisk. At the mouth of the'body of the fuse is a metallic case 22,

secured to the body of the fuse bya packingring 23 and adapted tocontain a charge of the oxid and element, such as powdered aluminium andoxid of iron. in the rear of this case 22 is adapted to be charged withpowdered magnesium or other suitable chemical, which may be mixed withpercarbonate of potassium or sodium peroxid or other; oxidizingmaterial. These chemicals may be inclosed in a paper case, or instead ofthe magnesium other means may be employed for generating the initialheat.

' The operation of this fuse is as follows: Normally the fuse is in anunarmed condition, the hammer 16 on the firing-pin 10,-which is keyed tothe pellet 12, being retained at a distance from the primer 17 by means,first, of

' the pins 15, and, secondly, by means of the nut 8, which'is screwed onthe end of the firing-pin 10 and is seated in the oblong recess in thesleeve 5. The fuse having been fitted in the base of the shell and theshell being fired from a gun, the force of the explosion within. the gundrives the shell. forward. Owingto the inertia of the pellet 12, which Itends to cause the pellet to lag behind within the cavity of the fuse,the pins 15 are sheared or broken, which allows the pellet and firingpin10 to be free from restraint against rotation within the bore of thefuse. As a rotary movement has been imparted to the shell by the ridingof the gun,the shell and the fuse therein are rotated at a very rapidrate. Owing to the inertia of the now free pellet 12 and the firing-pin10 this pellet and firing-pin do not rotate with the fuse at the rate ofrotation of the projectile, and th is lagging action thereforecauses therear endof the firing-pin 10 to unscrew from the oblong nut 8, where--.by the fuse becomes armed, and the firing-pin now'is free to moveagainst the primer 1 7. hen the projectile strikes the ship or othertarget against which itis directed the rotardation of the projectilecaused by striking a The space 21 resisting force permits the momentumof the pellet 12 to advance the firing-pin 10, and the hammer of thefiring-pin is brought violently in contact with the primer 17, explodingthe same and igniting the charge of magnesium and oxidizing material inthe cavity 21 and thereby, owing to the combustion of the magnesium,sufficient heat is generated to induce chemical action between thealuminium and the metal oxid in the case 22. This chemical actionproduces a gradually-increasing and intense non-gaseous heat, which issuflicient in time to fuse the case 22 and to explode a dctonator or toexplodt bursting charge of the projectile directly. l3; ying thecomposition or the thickness of the case 22 the time required to fusethe case and explode the bursting charge of the projectile may beincreased or lessened.

The advantage of the use of chemicals which shall produce a non gaseousheat is to prevent premature explosion, as where gases are produced bythe fuse the gases would be apt to start or loosen the case and toexplode the shell prematurely.

In Fig. ewe show a modification of the mechanical devices which may beemployed for arming the fuse and for retaining the feature of safety inhandling. In this modification the bore of thebody of the fuse at itsbase is preferablyreduced in area, forming a cavity 24. The forward endof this cavity 2 L is square in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 5 of thedrawings, while the lower portion of the cavity is cylindrical incross-section, asv is shown in Fig. 7. Seated in the rear portion of thecavity 21 is a block 25, having a recess in the base thereof, whichprovides a seat for a spiral spring 26, which spring bears against theblock'25 and also against the base of the cavity 2 t. On the outercircumference of the block is formed a ratchet 27, adapted to en a ewith a s rin -do 28 which is "2 D I) b 7 operated by the spring thisspring being so seated between the dog and the screw 30 that when theblock 25. is pushed back against the spring 26 in the recess 21L thespring-dog 28 shall engage with the ratchet 27 and retain the block inthis position. Seated in the forward part of the cavity 2& is the baseof the firing-pin 10, which at its rear end is cylindrical incross-section, as shown in Fig. 6, and is provided with a transversegroove or notch 31, which engages with a lug 32 in the forward end ofthe block 25. The forward portion of the base of the firing-pin 10 issquare in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to The firing-pin 10is secured to the ward motion of the projectile and until after the fusehas been further armed by the inertia of the devices against therotation of tlie'projeotile. The fuse is therefore perfectly unarmed andnot liable toaccidental ignition.

The fuse is absolutely certain in action, for the reason that althoughthe fuse is proof against accidental arming in handling yet the doublemovement of flight and rotation as the projectile leaves the gun andpasses through the air will invariably arm the same.

Thefuse is exceedingly simplein constru 0- tion and without parts liableto get out of order. a

The fuse will not deteriorate, owing to the fact that aluminium, oxid'ofiron, and magnesium are each so fixed in its condition that chemicalaction cannot take place until heat has been produced by the ignition ofthe magnesium. The fuse cannot be exploded by ex ternal heat.

The fuse can be made of any degree of sensitiveness desired withoutdanger of arming the same by accident.

Owing to the time required to produce a heat intense enough to destroythe case and to explode the bursting charge of the shell, the action maybe delayed sufficiently to allow the shell to lodge in the armor-plateor target before explosion takes place, and owing to the non-gaseouscombusti'dn of the fuse the premature explosion of the shell isprevented.

explosively without the ei'oliii ion of gas in stead of peroarbonate ofpotassium nercar honate of sodium or other material which will give upoxygen at a low iemperaiure may be employed for sta rting ih e reaei ion i n th e th er mite.

What we claim. is

1. A delayed-action fuse (or pro ectiles. consistii'ig of a chamberconiainingihermil e. and means for starting the reaeiion he! ween thecomponents of the theriniie.

2. A delayed-action fuse for .n'ojeCiileS- said fuse containingthermiie, metallic magnesium and percarbonate of potassium. and havingmeans for igniting the magnesnim and perca'rbouate of potassium.

A delayed-action "fuse for progechles having a fusible chambereontziining Lire? mite, and means for s tartin'- the riw ci me be; tweenthe components of the llllilllii 4. delayed action fuse l'oi projeeiiieScontaining therinite, a compound for si as! mg thejreaotmn between thecomponents of the ther1nite,a primer fol-igniting; said compound. andmeans for igniting the primer.

5.,"A delayed-aetion fuse for projectiles,

' containing therinite and a compound for starting, the reaction betweenthe components of the thermite, a Weighted firing-pin, and devices forweakly securing the firing-pin to ihe 'body of the fuse.

Intestimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands. I

G. Y. \VHEELER. A G. McKEjNA. lVitnesses Jon's HrpLEn, ll. M. Cems'ix.

